


Letters in the Mail

by ProwlingThunder



Series: 100+ Words [37]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: AU of an AU, Ayakashi, Daemons, Gen, Mailmen, Samurai, Scourgekids, Sons and Daughters of Ardyn, The Scourge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:13:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22062361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProwlingThunder/pseuds/ProwlingThunder
Summary: "I... I got a letter I gotta deliver, to someone out here? They said they live out here.""I know the people here. Who do you look for?"
Series: 100+ Words [37]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/748548
Kudos: 4





	Letters in the Mail

The camp was gone.

That was the thing Ayakashi noticed first, when he roused. That the camp was gone. And with the camp, his entire cohort. He called out their names, sheltered from the sun under the wide brim of his hat, but no one responded, and no tents could be seen on the horizon that hinted he'd drank too much and wandered off into the grasses.

Not since he had first set off on his own had he ever been alone. Parting from mother had been a delicate choice, but it had been necessary, and in short order he had belonged to many. Their purpose had eventually died out-- guardians of the very last Priestess of Leviathan, and now she was buried among her charges, beneath the Vesperpool with every honor they had been able to give her. It had been good, while it lasted. Somehow many of them had chosen to stay with him, when he hadn't been able to put down his sword in her name. He'd turned them at request, his brothers-in-arms, given them life inside the night, those who had accepted the daemon with the face of a man as one of their own.

It was weird that he was alone now. Ayakashi didn't like it. Something was _wrong._

He didn't find them in his searching, of course. But he did find a messenger atop a bright yellow bird, which freaked out upon his approach and sent the rider flying into an undignified sprawl on the ground. His own chocobo was likely with the rest of the camp. Ayakashi had tried summoning her, to no avail.

"--oh six, daemon! Help! Help!" No one came to the messenger's cries. Ayakashi tilted his head, listening, and then made a very real show of taking his hand _off_ his weapon, telegraphing that he was not about to draw the blade. "Six, please-- please don't kill me! I got a daughter--"

_Argh._

"Breathe. I do not intend to take your life."

"--she's only three-- wait. Really?"

"Truly," Ayakashi promised. "What is her name, your little girl?"

"Ah.. Susan? I.. I got a picture, if you want to see?"

Ayakashi nodded and the man dove for his satchel. "And yours?" he questioned.

"Conleth?" the man offered, and unfolded a wallet, offering it up to Ayakashi. He took it, looking down into the eyes of a little girl with dark eyes and dark hair. "That's my Susan," Conleth offered, his own eyes green and his hair brown. "She takes after her mother." Ayakashi could see that. But he could also see where her father came in, in the shape of her eyes and the line of her jaw. She would be very pretty, when she was grown.

He knelt down to Conleth's level and offered the wallet back, feeling petty pleasure at the way the man squirmed at the proximity. He had that effect on people, sometimes. But Conleth took his wallet back with both hands, even still. "She is very beautiful, your daughter. I wish you and your family many long years of joy. But the Kelbass grasslands are dangerous, Conleth, father of Susan. Why do you come here and risk yourself?"

"I... I got a letter I gotta deliver, to someone out here? They said they live out here."

"I know the people here. Who do you look for?"

Not many _lived_ in Kelbass. Most who did were with Ayakashi in camp. While camp moved, it could nearly be considered a permanent fixture. It wasn't a town in any sense of the word, but it was _home._

Those who were not his own knew who to call for their protection, for they were still his people. Their homes were more firmly entrenched, and Ayakashi could find them with ease, did he know what one to look for.

"Aya?" Conleth offered, unsure. Ayakashi blinked at him, and Conleth went for his satchel again. He pulled out a bundle of letters and started to flip through them, heedless of his gaze. "Sorry, I'm not sure how to say it, really, it's an odd sort of name? Sort of. Antique? Maybe my grandfather's grandfather's sort of name, you know?"

"I am sure I do not know," he promised wryly, and Conleth pulled a letter out with a huff of victory.

"This one. I'm looking for this person?"

Most of the script was beyond Ayakashi, a writing he did not know. But there were letters he did. He assumed the line immediately beneath them was the same name, written in whatever script the address was, but the first was a beloved language each and every child of the healing-queen had learned by her hand.

"Well, Conleth, I believe I can help you."

"You can?"

"Of course. You have found the recipient to the letter that you carry."

"I.. really?"

"Yes," he told him, amused by the disbelief. He supposed Conleth thought he did not look like an Ayakashi. "If you will rest in my shade while I read the missive, I would be humbled."

"Er.. okay?"

The hand was unfamiliar to him when he unfolded the parchment, but the words, at least, were not. He could not help but smile despite the formal greeting.

_To Curatoria Est Kelbass, Vaga Bellator Rex, my esteemed brother Ayakashi Lucis Caelum,_

_From Curatoria Est Galdin, Lapidarii Sculptis Regem, Dino Lucis Caelum..._

**Author's Note:**

> A joke from an RP about one (or more) of the Scourgekids ending up misplaced in a different world.  
> I kind of like Conleth. He might continue to stick around...


End file.
